1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device used to gather a sample of fiber for testing purposes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The cotton textile industry frequently requires testing of lint cotton samples for physical properties. Therefore, cotton samples must be procured from large quantities of cotton. These samples take the form of cotton beards. Conventional methods of preparing these fiber beards for length and strength involves testing equipment which is designed as a clamping device. However, heretofore, these clamping devices were designed with two rigid clamps. Specimen beards obtained with using such rigid clamping devices frequently contained holes or missing sections which deemed the samples unacceptable for use. It was generally noted that this problem was caused from localized trash or fiber lumps which, as a result of rigid jaws or clamps, prevented uniform gripping of the fiber in the formation of a beard. To overcome this problem, fibers being sampled were either blended to remove lumps and trash or repeat sampling was performed until an acceptable beard was obtained.